Some 30 South Korean celebrities held a concert in Seoul to urge China not to repatriate North Korean defectors. The celebrities, including popular TV actor Cha In-pyo and his actress wife Shin Ae-ra, has recently formed an organization called "Cry with us" with 30 teenagers who defected from North Korea, to help defectors caught in China.
During the concert slated for Sunday at Yonsei University's main campus in Seoul, the group issued a letter of appeal written in Korean, Chinese and English, urging Beijing not to repatriate North Korean defectors to their homeland.
Tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of North Koreans are believed to be living in hiding in China after fleeing their communist homeland in hopes of settling in South Korea.
The issue has drawn fresh media and public attention as China is reportedly moving to return dozens of detained North Korean escapees to their homeland where they are certain to face severe punishment or even execution.